Brampton businessman Najam Mahmood told his students “the sky was the limit” as he taught them the finer points of foreign exchange trading and becoming rich in courses several years ago.

But on Friday, Mahmood and his past promises crashed to earth when he learned the perils of tax evasion in connection with those same courses.

A judge sentenced the stocky Mahmood to a year in jail and added a fine of $687,000 payable over 10 years after a jury convicted him of eight counts of income tax evasion and not submitting goods and services taxes (GST) for his teaching firm between 2003 and 2006.

In the four years, Mahmood’s firm Forex collected about $3.1 million in tuition fees from hundreds of students who received instruction about currency trading. At the end of that period, he had evaded about $358,600 in income tax and $116,400 in GST.

Student tuitions ranged from $1,000 to $5,000 for weekend courses to an astounding $50,000 (U.S.) for a two-week “PhD” program at his office or in local hotel conference rooms. Advertisements for courses said students could “turn $10,000 into $1 million in five years” and “the sky is the limit.”

Evidence at his trial in the Superior Court of Justice showed Mahmood, a 36-year-old father of four, did not collect the GST or produce any books or records for his business. He did not file any tax returns for the four years and failed to report about $1.5 million in income, according to investigators.

“This was a deliberate course of action to avoid detection,” said Mr. Justice Gordon Lemon in passing sentence on Mahmood who showed no emotion.

The judge also referred to an entry in one of Mahmood’s personal diaries which read: “Business-What do I want ? Tax free business. Everything we make, we keep.”

Mahmood, who graduated from high school, dropped out of university after a year. He worked as a janitor, perfume salesman and security guard, and then took training courses at the Market Traders Institute in Florida.

He briefly worked as a salesman at the institute before starting Forex here. The company was not registered as a school and didn’t provide certificates that showed students met certain qualifications.

Mahmood, who was charged in 2008 after an investigation by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), blamed advisers for his tax mistakes and added he was the “naivest and dumbest” for trusting them.

Evidence at the trial showed Mahmood controlled bank accounts in different countries, incorporated companies, traded currencies in international markets and operatecd an investment management business.

“It is not reasonable to think that a businessman, as he was, would not be aware of any tax obligations,” said Crown prosecutor Connie Zary in her final submissions at the end of the trial.

Mahmood also told the court his business continually lost money and he had to borrow from friends and family. But Zary noted he donated more than $150,000 to charities during the same period.

Zary sought a jail sentence of three to four years plus the $687,000 fine — which represented 150 per cent of the tax evasion — and payment within two years. Defence lawyer Stacey Taraniuk requested a conditional eight-month sentence and payment of $475,000 or 100 per cent of the tax evasion over 10 years.

In his judgment, Lemon said there were no significant mitigating factors that would affect the length of Mahmood’s sentence since he had shown no remorse or made any repayment.

“Mr. Mahmood refused to pay his share of tax out of simple greed,” Lemon concluded. “He attempted to fly under the CRA’s radar screen in order to facilitate that.”

He stressed that the case calls for a jail term to deter other individuals from dodging their tax obligations to the government.

“A failure to do so would be a danger to the community, “ the judge added.

Lemon agreed with the defence for a longer payment period of the fine. The judge said Mahmood, who was also involved in a gold trading business, probably had full ability to pay the fine now but he wasn’t sure beyond a reasonable doubt.